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When a Beach Boy First Tasted the Ocean

Al Jardine grew up moving around the country with his family before settling in Los Angeles and meeting Brian Wilson

By

Marc Myers

July 17, 2018 10:30 a.m. ET

Al Jardine, 75, is a founding member of the Beach Boys. The band’s hits appear on “The Beach Boys With the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra” (Capitol). He is on his Postcard From California storytelling tour. He spoke with Marc Myers.

My childhood began hundreds of miles from the nearest wave. My family lived in Lima, Ohio, a small and quiet town in the 1940s. Our block was lined with trees, and the smell of raked fall leaves burning still takes me back there.